When the season was set to begin the single biggest thing pushing the Flames to the bottom of everyone’s prediction list and into the realm of McDavid was their expectant lack of scoring. Newly minted GM Brad Treliving said it kept him up at night. Who was going to score goals for the Flames this season.
Fast forward 60 games into the schedule and the team has ten 10 goal scorers, and sits 15th in the league in goals per game, quit the stat given the Flames have only hit the net 5 times on this road trip including an empty netter, with just one coming tonight in a 2-1 setback on Long Island.
The well has run dry, and they have little chance of finding a playoff spot if they don’t start finding that balanced scoring again pronto!
The Flow
Another slow start for the Flames, well maybe not on the first few shifts but certainly in the first period as a whole, as the Islanders put up 15 shots to the Flames 7 and enjoyed a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes. Ramo had to be stellar again as the Islanders had numerous chances to make the game more lopsided than it was. Calgary has a great chance to tie it when Ferland breaks in alone and is hooked, creating a penalty shot, but he hits Halak’s blocker.
Better period for the Flames, they come out with jump and get a few good chances but can’t either hit the net or solve Halak; the Flames dry spell offensively continues to sputter along. Emile Poirier appears to have tied the game when he jams the puck in from the right post, but I’m guessing the puck slid under the net when bodies pushed into it. 1-0 through two.
The Islanders looked to have put things away in the third but the goal is disallowed due to an interference call on Brock Nelson, seemed to be a pretty weak play. The Flames don’t generate a whole lot in the third and the Islanders are happy to just let the Flames play down the clock and collect the victory. Clutterbuck hits a post with the empty net, collects his rebound and then puts it in off Brodie to make it 2-0 before Jooris deflects the puck in late to break the shut out.
Three Stars
1.Kari Ramo: Third straight game I’ve given the guy the first star. stops 37 of the 38 shots he faces to give his team more than a fair chance to steal a win.
2.Jaroslav Halak: Jaroslav Halak didn’t have to be as good as Ramo but was good when he needed to be, turning aside 26 shots for the win, a franchise win mark for an Islander goaltender.
3.Ryan Strome: Looked like his first period sand wedge was going to hold up as the game’s only goal.
Big Save
Tempting to give Halak the nod for stopping a penalty shot, but the blocker save on Ferland didn’t look all that challenging. I’ll go with Ramo stopping the one timer on Lee in the first period; athletic reaching pad save.
The Goat
I gave Curtis Glencross a lot of credit for what I thought was his last game in a Calgary uniform in Jersey; he may wish it was. Tonight he was an absolute mess in forcing plays where they were none and creating unforced turnovers. The emotion of the trade deadline may be getting to him.
Mr. Clutch
The dman trio of Brodie/Russell and Wideman played roughly 90 minutes of the 120 minutes of hockey tonight and did an admirable job of holding the club in the game. Tough sledding to play that large a role but they did it pretty much seamlessly.
Odds and Ends
Halak’s 33rd win for the Islanders sets a team mark for wins in a season. Really tells you how much of a tandem they had in the glory days with Smith and Resch and then Smith and others as they certainly piled up the wins in that era. … Will be interesting to see if Calgary inserts Wotherspoon into the lineup in Philadelphia on Tuesday, assuming they haven’t added another dman at the deadline. Potter’s 8 minutes merged with Engellend at 11 and Diaz at 13 only amounted to a quarter of the ice time, too big a burden on the other three. I’m guessing Wotherspoon could handle more. … Speaking of ice time, Hartley really shortened his bench tonight. Not used to seeing a trio of forwards all pushing 22 minutes but that’s what we saw from the Monahan line. They got their chances, but Gaudreau and Hudler continue to be shutout despite their chances. Backlund’s line has dried up and the Glencross third line didn’t get a whole lot done either. … Hate to trot out a conspiracy theory, but if the Flames have been hush hush about Giordano’s status due to wanting to avoid hurting their negotiating position with a club in an attempt to acquire a defenseman (Yandle) then it makes perfect sense to put the captain on the ice for a warm up with an upper body injury to just skate around and move some pucks casually. Keeps the mystique of an early return alive. … On the other side, hoping that Giordano warm up is indicative of an injury that will only sideline him tonight and possibly Tuesday. The Flames are suddenly getting a bit of help on the out of town scoreboard, so with their schedule getting more favourable when they return, a healthy Giordano suggests they could still take a run at this thing. … .
Next Up
The Flames don’t play again until Tuesday in Philly, but the trade deadline is truly what’s up next. Will the Flames add some bodies? Take some away? Stay tuned!
Lines:
Lance Bouma – Mikael Backlund – David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Jiri Hudler
Curtis Glencross – Joe Colborne – Josh Jooris
Michael Ferland – Markus Granlund – Emile Poirier
Kris Russell – Dennis Wideman
Deryk Engelland – TJ Brodie
Cory Potter – Rapha Diaz
Kari Ramo
